Whenever energy is used either to propel a vehicle through a fluid or to propel a fluid through a conduit, there is energy lost because of friction between the surface and the fluid moving relative to it. The lost energy is generally evidenced by conversion of the energy lost to heat and by a slowing of the vehicle or by a pressure drop of the fluid flowing through the conduit. The lost energy must be constantly replaced to maintain the speed of the vehicle or to maintain the pressure of the fluid. In a vehicle, replacing the lost energy is achieved by supplying power to the wheels or other propelling agency such as a propeller or jet engine. In a conduit the lost energy is replaced either by increasing the initial pressure of the fluid being pumped through a conduit or by providing pumping means spaced at intervals along a pipe or conduit to increase to a higher level the pressure which had dropped to a lower level through friction.
To the extent that friction between a surface and a fluid flowing relative to the surface can be reduced, the energy required to move the vehicle through the fluid or the fluid through the conduit can be reduced. Such an energy reduction will be represented by an increase in gas mileage and range in an internally powered vehicle such as a car or boat or plane.
Further, lift is generated by fluid flow over dimpled surfaces as compared with fluid flow over similarly contoured smooth or undimpled surfaces. The lift is generated because fluid, traversing the dimpled surface, must travel further over the dimples than over a corresponding contoured smooth surface, thereby generating higher fluid velocity and lower pressure adjacent the dimpled surface, in accord with Bernoulli's theorem, whereby lift is generated by the differential pressure between the lower pressure adjacent the surface having the dimples and the higher pressure on the corresponding undimpled or smooth surface positioned on the vehicle oppositely to the dimpled surface.